Design Technology - Printing Out 3d CAD Files

Here are some images and videos of recent student work being printed out from 3D CAD files on some of our  new equipment. Students created these products using Sketchup, a computer 3d modeling software package. What you are seeing in the images below are the first versions, or first prototypes, of each item. The design process allows for rich feedback as students can now handle and use these items and make adjustments and changes as necessary. This is called rapid prototyping. It creates great feedback through tactile and real-use scenarios which can then be incorporated into subsequent, improved versions. This prototyping technique is different from traditional techniques where few prototypes are made, many of which are not very realistic.  3D printing enables quick, iterative product design and improvement in a way other technologies can't.